1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film projector for projecting pictures stored in a developed film and, more particularly, to a support mechanism for a film carrier adapted to receive a film in the film projector. The film applicable to the projector has a plurality of frames arranged in series, such as one having a plurality of frames in a continuous strip, or one consisting of an array of discrete frames, or films. Pictures in the film illuminated by the projector may be picked up by a video camera.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A film projector is used for projecting, on a video camera, pictures stored in a film which has been exposed and developed. Each picture projected by the projector is picked up by a video camera so as to be displayed on a display or stored in a recording medium, wuch as a video tape.
Where a film to be projected on a video camera has continuous frames as in ordinary films, it is necessary to take into account the orientation of a picture in a frame which is dependent on the angular position with respect to an optical axis of the image pick up lens of a camera at the time of a shot, i.e., horizontal or vertical. That is, frames in a film are sometimes exposed in a horizontal orientation, and sometimes in a vertical one which is rotated 90 degrees from the horizontal orientation. Furthermore, among the vertical frames, some are the result of rotating the camera clockwise, and some are the result of rotating it counterclockwise.
The video camera, on the other hand, is fixed in place relative to the projector so that pictures are always projected, recorded and reproduced in horizontal frames. Hence, frames exposed by holding a conventional camera, using silver-halide photosensitive film, in a vertical position must be rotated before projected on the video camera.
It is sometimes desired to project only part of a frame in a magnification, instead of one whole frame. For such magnification of specific part of a frame, the film has to be movable in two-dimensional directions in the same plane as the film plane, i.e., a plane which is perpendicular to the optical axis of the projector lens, sliding not only in the lengthwise direction but also in a direction perpendicular thereto.
Generally, a prior art film carrier support mechanism associated with a film projector has given no consideration to magnified projection of desired frame part only. Specifically, a carrier holder for receiving a film carrier has been customarily designed to have substantially the same width as the film carrier, allowing the carrier to be freely slidable only in the lengthwise direction of the film and not in the direction perpendicular thereto. One possible approach for the magnified partial projection may be constructing the carrier to be movable relative to the carrier holder in both the lengthwise direction and a direction perpendicular thereto. Another approach may be mounting the carrier holder, with a substantial play on the projector to make it movable in two-dimensional directions in the same plane as the film plane.
The problem with any of the approaches stated above in conjunction with a prior art mechanism is that, in the event of projection of one whole frame, difficulty is experienced in stopping the film in a predetermined appropriate position with respect to the widthwise direction of the film. Likewise, it is difficult to set a frame precisely in a predetermined vertical position or a horizontal position.